Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Bahubali is Mega Hit

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Lisa Tsering based on The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The story has been told many times before — a child is born destined for greatness and as a man vanquishes the forces of evil — but in the confident hands of accomplished South Indian director S.S. Rajamouli the tale gets potent new life in Bahubali: The Beginning." Allan Hunter, writing for Screen Daily noted that "The broad brushstrokes storytelling and the director's over-fondness for slow-motion sequences are among the film's failings but this is still a rousing film, easily accessible epic. There's rarely a dull moment in Baahubali: The Beginning, part one of a gung-ho, crowd-pleasing Telugu-language epic that has been shattering box-office records throughout India." Mike McCahill of The Guardian rated the film four stars out of five, praising the film, "Rajamouli defers on the latter for now, but his skilful choreography of these elements shucks off any cynicism one might carry into Screen 1: wide-eyed and wondrous, his film could be a blockbuster reboot, or the first blockbuster ever made, a reinvigoration of archetypes that is always entertaining, and often thrilling, to behold." Suprateek Chatterjee of The Huffington Post wrote, "However, all said and done, Baahubali: The Beginning is a remarkable achievement. What Rajamouli has pulled off here, despite its flaws, is nothing short of a miracle, especially when you take into account India's notoriously risk-averse filmmaking environment and when the film ends on a tantalising cliffhanger (paving the way forBaahubali: The Conclusion, due to release next year), one can't help but applaud his singularly brave vision. As the cliché goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step, but it doesn't really matter if that first step is shaky as long as it lands firmly and confidently."

Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost wrote, "This battle is Rajamouli's tour de force. It's elaborate, well-choreographed and has some breathtaking moments. Prabhas and Dagubatti are both in their elements as the warriors who approach warfare in two distinctive styles. The outcome of the battle is no surprise, but there are enough clever tactics and twists to keep the audience hooked. The biggest surprise, however, lies in the film's final shot, which gives you a glimpse into the sequel that will come out next year. And it's good enough to make you wish 2016 was here already." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV India rated the film with three stars out of five and stated, "The spectacular universe that the film conjures up is filled with magic, but the larger-than-life characters that populate its extraordinary expanse do not belong to any known mythic landscape. To that extent, Baahubali, driven by the titular superhero who pulls off mind-boggling feats both in love and in war, throws up many a surprise that isn't altogether meaningless." Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express praised the film: "Right from its opening frames, 'Baahubali' holds out many promises: of adventure and romance, love and betrayal, valour and weakness. And it delivers magnificently on each of them. This is full-tilt ,fully-assured filmmaking of a very high order. 'Baahubali' is simply spectacular." IN her review for The Hindu, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo wrote, "The war formations that form a chunk of the latter portions of the film are the best we've seen in Indian cinema so far. These portions are spectacular and show the technical finesse of the cinematographer (K.K. Senthil Kumar) and the visual effects teams. The waterfall, the mystical forests and water bodies above the cliffs and the lead pair escaping an avalanche all add to the spectacle. Give into its magic, without drawing comparisons to Hollywood flicks."

Sukanya Varma of Rediff gave the film four out of five stars, calling it 'mega, ingenious and envelope pushing!'. Critic Archita Kashyap based at Koimoi also gave the same ratings, "Be it the war sequences, or sword fighting; or a visual spectacle, or pure entertainment it is worth a watch. Kudos to the dedication of S S Rajamouli and his leading men, Prabhas & Rana, for spending years putting this film together. Actually, in its imagination & Indianness, Baahubali might just be a whole new start." Rachit Gupta of Filmfare gave the film four stars (out of 5) and summarized, "Baahubali is truly an epic experience. Had the story not been so jaded, this would've gone into the history books as an all-time classic. But that's not the case. It has its set of storytelling flaws, but even those are overshadowed by Rajamouli's ideas and execution. This is definitely worthy of being India's most expensive film. It's a definite movie watching experience." Suparna Sharma of Deccan Chronicle praised the second half of the film, writing, "Rajamouli has reserved all the grander and grandstanding for later, after interval. That's when the film stands up and begins to strut like an epic." Suhani Singh of India Today pointed out that the film is best enjoyed keeping logic at bay. She added, "SS Rajamouli and his team put up a fascinating wild, wild east adventure. It takes pluck to conceive a world like the one seen in Baahubali and to pull it off on a level which is on par with the international standards. The almost 45-minute long battle sequence at the end is not just one of the biggest climaxes, but also the action spectacle rarely seen in Indian cinema. And if Rajamouli can present another one like that in part 2, then he is on course to register his name in cinema's history books. We can't wait to revisit Mahishmati kingdom." Critical reception penned by Shubha Shetty Saha for Mid Day rates the film with four stars out of film, exclaiming, "While watching 'Baahubali', you might have to periodically pick up your jaw off the floor. Because this is not merely a movie, it is an unbelievably thrilling fantasy ride." The review extends praising the aspects, "It is to the director's credit that every aspect of the film -- action, mind-boggling set design and choreography -- lives up to this epic film of gigantic scale. The choreography in the song that has Shiva disrobing Avantika to get her in touch with her feminine side, is an absolute gem."

Box office

Baahubali: The Beginning collected around ₹162 crore (US$24 million) worldwide on its first weekend from all its versions, the third biggest ever for an Indian film. The film grossed around 255 crore (US$38 million) worldwide in the first week of its release.[84] It became the first South Indian film to gross 300 crore (US$45 million) worldwide, reaching there in 9 days, and subsequently grossed 401 crore (US$61 million) worldwide in 15 days.And has successfully crossed 500 crore (US$75 million) mark in 24 days. At the end of 30 days, it earned 540 crore (US$82 million) worldwide from all its versions. It has created many Box office Records.Highest grossing South Indian film in history,highest worldwide opening day gross with 75 crore (US$11 million),highest worldwide opening weekend gross with 169 crore (US$26 million),highest first week gross with 265 crore (US$40 million),fastest Indian film to reach 100 crore (US$15 million) mark in just 2 days,200 crore (US$30 million) mark in just 5 days,300 crore (US$45 million) mark in just 8 days and highest gross ₹113 crore (US$17 million) for a film dubbed into Hindi.

India

Baahubali: The Beginning opened to 100 percent occupancy in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and close to 70 percent occupancy in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.It grossed around ₹50 crore (US$7.5 million) on its first day of release in India from all four versions (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi). The Hindi version earned around ₹4.25 crore (US$640,000) nett which was the second highest opening for any film dubbed into Hindi.The Hindi version grossed around ₹19.50 crore (US$2.9 million) nett in the first weekend.

The Telugu version alone earned around ₹65 crore (US$9.8 million) nett in first weekend in India. The film, from all its versions, earned almost ₹100 crore (US$15 million) nett in its first weekend. It had the fourth biggest opening weekend ever in India. The Hindi version collected around ₹40 crore (US$6.0 million) nett in its first week.

Baahubali: The Beginning grossed more than ₹178 crore (US$27 million) nett from all its versions in India in the first week. It added a further ₹45 crore (US$6.8 million) nett in its second weekend to take its total to around ₹224 crore (US$34 million) nett in ten days. The Hindi version grossed over 40 crore (US$6.0 million) nett in the Mumbai circuit.[100] Baahubali grossed over ₹100 crore (US$15 million) nett in 24 days from the Hindi version.

Overseas

The film collected around ₹20 crore (US$3.0 million) in its first day from the international markets.[90] In the United States and Canada, it earned US$1.2 million in its opening day from 236 theaters (170 of which were shown in Telugu).[103] Baahubali: The Beginning grossed around US$6.4 million (₹41 crore) at the North American box-office towards its second weekend.

The film opened on the ninth spot for its weekend, collecting around US$3.5 million with a per-screen average of $15,148.[106] The film debuted in the ninth position for the US and Canadian box office collecting $4,630,000 for three days and $3,250,000 for the weekend of 10–12 July 2015 [107] Baahubali: The Beginning grossed £66,659 from its Telugu version in United Kingdom and Ireland and A$194,405 from its Tamil version in Australia in till its second weekend (17 – 19 July 2015). The film also grossed MYR 663,869 in Malaysia from its Tamil version.